Vietnam sends ship to track Chinese vessel patrolling Russian gas field in EEZ, data shows

China Coast Guard ships have been used to assert Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea. - Reuters

HANOI (Reuters): A Vietnamese ship monitored a Chinese Coast Guard vessel on Saturday (March 25) in a Russian-operated gas field in Vietnam's South China Sea exclusive economic zone (EEZ), data show - the latest Chinese patrol in a pattern stretching more than a year.

Chinese coast guard ships have sailed directly into energy exploration blocks operated or owned by Russian firms in Vietnam's EEZ about 40 times since January 2022, according to vessel-tracking data from Vietnamese research organisation South China Sea Chronicle Initiative (SCSCI), an independent non-profit.